Lebanon: Urgent need for more aid after two months of devastation

The humanitarian and medical needs of hundreds of thousands of people in Lebanon remain overwhelming.

In southern Beirut, people are moving back and forth between their shelters and homes, collecting what they can and preparing to return to displacement sites if needed.  People, particularly in southern Beirut, the Bekaa Valley, and south Lebanon, have lost their homes, livelihoods, and loved ones. Over 1 million people have been forcibly displaced due to Israel’s continuous attacks. 

While teams with Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) across Lebanon are adapting their response and assessing needs as people continue to move across the country, people in Lebanon need more. We continue to call for an urgent scale-up of humanitarian aid and unhindered access to people in need across the country. 

People traveling south are queuing in traffic. Uncertainty remains high. Many do not know if they will find their homes standing or destroyed. Although a pause to attacks may bring some relief, people’s humanitarian needs remain urgent and immense. This includes the psychological impact of months of trauma caused by the killing, displacement, and a lack of access to basic necessities.

Recent escalation comes after years of ongoing attacks by Israeli forces

Even before the escalation in early March, the so-called ceasefire existed in name only, as ongoing attacks by Israeli forces continued to devastate people’s lives. More than 64,000 people were still internally displaced due to Israel's incursions and occupation in south Lebanon, while attacks on reconstruction equipment and other civilian facilities prevented recovery in many areas.

Between March 2 and April 10, more than 2,000 people have been killed and more than 7,000 have been injured, according to local health officials. On April 8 alone, large-scale strikes by Israeli forces across Lebanon accounted for one-fifth of the casualties recorded since early March. MSF teams are working in Rafik Hariri University Hospital in Beirut, and Jabal Amel Hospital in Sour to support the local health care system to respond to urgent needs.

Together with hospital staff and workers, MSF teams have treated patients with life-altering injuries, including severed limbs and severe organ trauma. Israeli forces’ indiscriminate strikes in densely populated areas have not spared civilians, while attacks on health care have killed and injured medical workers.

Mass displacement has wrought wide-ranging damage

At the same time, more than 1 million people have been forcibly displaced. Many had to flee at a moment's notice, often with only the clothes they were wearing, leaving behind their homes and belongings. Months spent in overcrowded shelters or makeshift tents on the streets have worsened people’s health due to poor hygiene conditions, inadequate shelter, and prolonged psychological distress. 

The consequences of displacement during war do not end when people try to return home. Some will not be able to return, as their homes have been destroyed, while others are not able to even reach their villages in the southern border at all because of Israeli forces’ occupation. Economic hardship, loss of work, the trauma of fleeing suddenly, uncertainty about the future, and absence of safety all have a severe impact on people’s mental health. Many people continue to experience stress, anxiety, depression, and symptoms of severe traumatic stress.